Executive Director’s Passion to Write Fuels 2 New Books

It’s dark outside. The night is soft, quiet — calm. At three in the morning, most people have a couple more hours until their day begins.

But in one house, a light is already on.

UIL Executive Director Dr. Charles Breithaupt’s day has begun.

“I get up early in the morning to write,” he said. “I’ll write for a couple of hours, then go back to sleep for an hour and then come to work.”

Breithaupt is authoring a series of books on the technical aspects of basketball.

“It’s called ‘The Basketball Chronicles,’” he said. “I already have volume one, organizational skills, at the publisher. The next one will be on offensive systems.”

Within the same contract, Breithaupt also is writing a book on Texas high school football — “Legends of the Fall” — which is about Texas high school football coaches.

“It is about the top notch coaches in the state, the ones I’ve seen personally coach either in practice or in games,” he said. “I’m excited about that book.”

This is not Breithaupt’s first time in the author’s chair. He has published “Press On,” the story of his state championship team, and co-authored “King Cotton,” a biography of the winningest coach in Texas State Championship basketball, Cotton Robinson. Both are available on Amazon.

“I got to relive a lot of great memories writing these books,” he said. “It’s a fascinating story. The hard part though, is that you can’t put everything in.”

Breithaupt is about halfway through “Legends of the Fall.”

“I’m trying to finish up the football book because I can’t stop,” he said. “I keep adding another coach and I’m trying to decide whether I’m going to put that in two volumes or one. It has to be one. I can’t do two.”

Breithaupt’s love for writing started in high school, where he was the editor of the school newspaper and yearbook.

“I wasn’t the editor because I was good. It was because we didn’t have anybody else,” he said. “I had some really good English teachers. Every English teacher I had really inspired me to write. I learned how to do research and cite references. I’m fortunate to have had some of the finest teachers.”

The publisher for “The Basketball Chronicles” is Coaches Choice. The other books are published by Xulon Press.

“I’m hoping by the end of the school year to be finished with my football one,” Breithaupt said. “I would like to have that published by the time coaching school begins, before football season starts.”

Profits from his books don’t end up in his own pocket. Breithaupt donates every cent he makes off his books.

“I pledged to the Texas high school football Hall of Fame that I would contribute everything I make off ‘Legends of the Fall’ back to the Hall of Fame,” he said. “All the profit I’ve made from ‘Press On,’ goes back to the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation (TILF) for the UIL scholarships.”

Along with his book projects, Breithaupt also is designing a plan to capture the historical stories of the UIL.

“We’re blessed to have some of the best athletics in the state,” he said. “I mean, when you think about all the kids that are Olympians that participated in our state events and were state champions—there are so many stories.”